Deities

Track Listings

1. Brahma, the Creator

2. Indra, the Rainmaker

3. Yellow Sapphire

4. Saraswati, the Wise

5. Garuda, the Wings of Vishnu

6. Vishnu, the Protector

7. Blue Sapphire

8. Krishna, the Divine

9. Peacocks and Swans

10. Lakshmi, the Golden One

11. Lotus Blossom

12. Rama and Sita

13. Hanuman, the Monkey God

14. Soma, the Moon God

15. Parvati, the Powerful

16. Durga, the Warrior

17. Temples

18. Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles

19. Kali, the Mother Goddess

20. Cobras and Garlands

See all 22 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews
Todd Zachritz, Godsend Online
"'Saraswati' is a standout, mashing up tablas and banjo alongside drum programming, synth, and guitars for a wonderously joyous vibe."

Product Description
Building on the success of their first release "The Perfume of Creosote: Desert Exotica Part One," Michael Ely and Spider Taylor of Smoke & Mirrors return to center stage with their newest release, "Deities." This two-disc collection inspired by Hindu gods and goddesses is a mixture of surreal and lush compositions influenced by alternative rock and brimming with powerful beats that set it apart from the usual ambient fare.

Fans of Smoke & Mirrors' unorthodox approach to music will be delighted to discover this unique follow-up work in which alternative rock collides with ambient melodies and tribal rhymes, resulting in a collection of exotic, sensual, psychedelic and atmospheric soundscapes. Listeners are taken on a hypnotic and spiritual journey from creation to destruction, only to begin again in the never-ending circle of reincarnation. Punctuated by Ely's mystical strings and Taylor's passionate guitars, "Deities" is numinous and earthy, partnered with catchy percussions that keeps one's head in the clouds and feet on the ground--most likely tapping to the beat.

Deities,Smoke & Mirrors,Aural Fixation Records,TWO CDs (2.5 hours) of cinematic atmospheric instrumental soundscapes inspired by the Hindu deities and containing elements of music for film, ambient music, instrumental rock, and more.

Deities

Tracks:

Prelude
Two Gods
Cosmetic Citizen
A Girl Called Harmony
Monkey In A Bin
Shrinkwrap
Beast Of Burden
A'dam & Eva
Interlude
I Am (Eternity)
Dreamsleep
The Mercy Machine
For The Child
Into The Waves
A Few Of My Favorite Things
Fate Is Smiling

Product Description

1. Prelude
2. Two Gods
3. Cosmetic Citizen
4. A Girl Called Harmony
5. Monkey In A Bin
6. Shrinkwrap
7. Beast of Burden
8. A'dam & Eva
9. Interlude
10. I Am (Eternity)
11. Dreamsleep
12. The Mercy Machine
13. For The Child
14. Into The Waves
15. A Few of My Favourite Things
16. Fate Is Smiling CD

Format: CD

Minor League Deities
Average customer rating:

Very nice debut

Minor League Deities
Rachael Davis
Manufacturer: Vsojaz Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Rachael Davis - Live in Bremen Germany

ASIN: B0000DES4M
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Tracks:

Cocktail Wieners
Better Than Me
Feste's Theme (Heavenbound)
Under Winter
Dancin' Shoes
Lucinda
Still an Angel - Rachael Davis, Claudia Schmidt
Eight Lit Window
Only Stranger
January

Customer Reviews:

Very nice debut.......2006-08-04

This is Rachael Davis's first cd, but it shows considerable wisdom and promise of still better things to come. The songs are carefully crafted and she never oversings them. She fits squarely in the folk-pop singer-songwriter genre but she has a distinctive voice that doesn't remind me all that much of anyone -- maybe the McGarrigles a little. By the way, the title is Minor League Deities, not Dieties. The album is about the things that inspire us, not about the lengths we go to to lose weight. (After writing the above sentence, someone fixed the title! Good to know somebody looks at these reviews.)

Average customer rating:

Music of Purcell, Jenkins and Locke

Manufacturer: Vanguard Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Opera & Vocal | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Shakespeare Songs
Elizabethan and Jacobean Music

ASIN: B0000E1WJQ
Release Date: 2003-12-09

Tracks:

Secrecies Song/Mystery's Song
Fantasia In D For 4 Viols
Here Let My Life
Prelude, Air And Hornpipe For Harpsichord
Consort Of Four Parts For Viols Fantasia, Courante, Ayre, Sarabande
Here The Deities Approve
Since From My Dear Astrea's Sight
Suite In D Minor For Harpsichord - Allemande, Courante, Hornpipe
The Plaint
Pavane For 4 Viols

Average customer rating:

a voice teacher and early music fan

Purcell: Odes

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000057DI
Release Date: 1990-02-13

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-05-17

Henry Purcell looked like a Florentine prince, was hail-fellow-well-met in tavern and taproom,wrote for the church and also for the stage and salon, was in fact a most likeable young man, as well as a "very great Master of Musicke." He literally invented the English celebratory style in music. The odes on this disc with their heavy reliance on trumpets and kettledrums demonstrate very well the celebratory aspect as well as the exultation of the music itself. All of the solo voices are excellent and are included to some extent in each of the odes. "Come, ye sons of art,away" was the ode for what was to be Queen Mary's last birthday-30 April 1694 and is the least ostentatious of the birthday odes. It is a countertenor's dream, for Purcell favors this voice as the soloist thruout. Some of the these solos for the countertenor heard quite often on their individual solo albums are: 'Sound the trumpet,sound'-'Strike the Viol'-and 'Come ye sons of art, away'."Welcome to all the Pleasures" was composed for the inaugural celebration of a so-called Musical Society in 1683. One of the outstanding solos from this ode is for the tenor-'Beauty,thou scene of love' and is sung beautifully on this disc by John Mark Ainsley. The ode :Yorkshire Feast Song also called 'Of old when heroes thought it base(1690)' features the countertenor more than the other voices and my favorite countertenor: Michael Chance performs them splendidly. This ode was written for an obscure gathering of York nobility. The instrumental accompaniment is excellent and I found the entire disc to be very entertaining.

Average customer rating:

Acis & Galatea
Handel , Leblanc , Bleeke , Molomot , and Milnes
Manufacturer: Atma Classique
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000EWNYM
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Average customer rating:

Sweeter than Roses: Purcell Songs

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

O Solitude
'Tis Nature's Voice
The Rival Sisters, Or The Violence Of Love: Celia Has A Thousand Charmes
The Indian Queen: I Attempt From Love's Sickness To Fly
If Musick Be The Food Of Love
Not All My Torments
From Silent Shades (Mad Bess)
Oedipus: Musick For A While
Pausanias, The Betrayer Of His Country: Sweeter Than Roses
Celebrate This Festival: Crown The Altar
Lord, What Is Man
Sleep, Adam, Sleep
Now That The Sun Hath Veil'd His Light
The Fatal Hour Comes On Apace
Welcome To All The Pleasures: Here The Deities Approve
Fly, Bold Rebellion: Be Welcome Then, Great Sir
The Fairy Queen: Thrice Happy Lovers
The Fairy Queen: Hark! The Echoing Air
The Fairy Queen: Hark! How All Things

Average customer rating:

Deities
Smoke & Mirrors
Manufacturer: Aural Fixation Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0006OA85M
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Tracks:

Brahma, the Creator
Indra, the Rainmaker
Yellow Sapphire
Saraswati, the Wise
Garuda, the Wings of Vishnu
Vishnu, the Protector
Blue Sapphire
Krishna, the Divine
Peacocks and Swans
Lakshmi, the Golden One
Lotus Blossom
Rama and Sita
Hanuman, the Monkey God
Soma, the Moon God
Parvati, the Powerful
Durga, the Warrior
Temples
Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles
Kali, the Mother Goddess
Cobras and Garlands
Nandi, the Protector of All Four-Legged Animals
Shiva, the Destroyer

Album Description

Building on the success of their first release "The Perfume of Creosote: Desert Exotica Part One," Michael Ely and Spider Taylor of Smoke & Mirrors return to center stage with their newest release, "Deities." This two-disc collection inspired by Hindu gods and goddesses is a mixture of surreal and lush compositions influenced by alternative rock and brimming with powerful beats that set it apart from the usual ambient fare.

Tracks:

"Fairest isle" from King Arthur/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
Sonata No. 9 in C minor/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
"Music for a While" from Oedipus/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonarwith Daniel Taylor
Sonata No. 3 in A minor/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
"Here the deities approve" from Welcome to all the pleasures/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
An Evening Hymn on a Ground/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar withDaniel Taylor
"O solitude, my sweetest choice"/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sowith Daniel Taylor
Sonata No. 6 in G minor/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
Sonata No. 12 in D major/Composed by Henry Purcell/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
"So ceas the rival crew" from An Ode on the Death of Mr. Henry Purcell/Composed by John Blow/Performed by Da Sonar with Daniel Taylor
So Ceas'd The Rival Crew: An Ode On The Death Of Mr Henry Purcell - Daniel Taylor

Amazon.com essential recording

The talented young Canadian Daniel Taylor is another in the impressive crop of countertenors now coming to prominence. His pure, light voice has a slight vibrato and a natural-sounding timbre; while his lowest notes seem underpowered, his upper range is clear and unconstrained. It's a small voice, certainly, but very likable within its limits. For his solo debut recording, Taylor has selected some of Purcell's best-known songs, including "Music for a while," "O solitude," and "Fairest isle." He has chosen well: these relatively subdued items call for the gentle delivery and musical subtlety that are his strengths without requiring more volume or drama than he can comfortably deliver. Included alongside the songs are several of Purcell's trio sonatas for strings, exquisitely played by the Montreal period-instrument ensemble Da Sonar. The performances' only real flaw is, as it were, an excess of moderation--especially as regards the tempos, which range from moderato to allegro moderato. All in all, though, what this record may lack in excitement it makes up in good taste--very Canadian. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Superb.......2000-07-05

As far as my personal opinion goes, Daniel Taylor is everything I want in a countertenor. His singing combines a naturally sounding tone, a comfortably wide range, and an uncanny ability to convey emotion. Critics occasionally fault him for not being more dramatic (see, e.g., the editorial review on this page), but to me, Taylor's subtle tools of expression are much more appealing than the more overtly operatic style of some other countertenors. Besides, the absence of operatic drama is irrelevant when it comes to a disc like this one. This CD collects several lyrical (or even melancholy) pieces by Henry Purcell. Taylor's subtlety works very well in this selection. Two pieces are absolute gems: An Evening Hymn (a remarkable combination of a treble-like sound and a mature eloquence), and John Blow's Ode on the death of Purcell (Taylor runs Michael Chance very close in this one!).

Average customer rating:

a voice teacher and early music fan

Purcell Songs: Sweeter Than Roses

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000JKFM
Release Date: 1999-07-13

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-01-29

This is a pleasant album with a nice variety of songs some of which I have not previously encountered. Drew Minter's voice is correct in every way; that is: nice tone quality, accurate pitch and excellent diction. BUT there is no excitement to be had; there is no emotion to latch onto. He sings "O Solitude" just the same as he sings "Crown the Altar" which contain totally different meanings. His best renditions are: "Lord, What is Man" and "Be Welcome then,Great Sir". The only thing I detect that conveys some sense of drama are changes in volume. These songs can be very meaningful when the performer takes note of the song's message.The accompanying instruments are excellent and the album is worth buying if you are "hooked on" Purcell.

Average customer rating:

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Deities
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000OJRVS6

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